What Lies Beneath
by LoveElle
Summary: Six months have passed since The Flock made the tough decision to try and live a normal life with Max's Mom in Arizona. But they should've known that nothing lasts forever. Can Fang save Max? Suck at Summaries. Rated T for Language. No lemons. FAX.
1. Black Mailing

**Ohai, I didn't see you there. I'm Elise and I'm a bookaholic.  
This is my first fanfiction on here, so please be gentle. xD****  
Some things you should know, this will not be just a highschool-  
boring-drama-story. I just**** had to stick this in front of the next  
chapter so you understand a couple of things. (;**

****Max & Fang are seventeen. It's set somewhere in the middle of the series.******  
Feedback is love. (:**

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"--And the only reason I was talking to him in the first place was for the booze, and he still didn't realize even after Lisa walked out with two bottles of vodka tucked under her arm." Heather Bishop's constant chattering was the only thing keeping me awake, listening to her whiny voice was as painful to listen to as having to stab a sharpened pencil into your own leg, _just wait it out, don't lose your cool, Max. _I reminded myself, _detention will be over soon._

Although the kids and teachers at the school knew about the flock's past_,_ we really weren't treated any differently, that is to say when one of us is sent to the principal's office for starting a fight or _disturbance_, Principal Cline lets us off the hook pretty often, because of the whole helping out the world gig we were doing before deciding to settle down and try to live normal lives.

But it was a different story when I threw a brick at the school bus when it failed to stop when I yelled at the driver. It's fair I suppose, better than having to deal with a lawsuit.

"You seriously will not understand how ugly he is until you see him." Lisa Pearson added, the four of them giggled.

"I don't know about that, I mean you've all seen Heather's Mom without makeup, right?" I continued to scribble on my binder folder, not bothering to see their priceless reactions.

"Did you say something, dyke? If you did, why don't you say that to my face?" It's hard to believe that Heather's _serious_ voice was worse than her normal voice, but it was.

"That's the thing, Heather. Don't you know that saying? Like mother like daughter?"

"That's it, bitch." I contained a chuckle, _and so it begins._

Her hand gripped onto my sandy hair, yanking my neck to side forcing me to fall from my chair on to the cold linoleum floor. She released her grasp and with all her might kicked her sneaker into my gut, "Come on, bitch." She spat her words at me. Her kick barely fazed me, but I pulled a pained face.

This is what I love about detention, the assigned teacher really doesn't give a shit, so they do what they please and leave us alone to serve our time.

I pressed my hands against the ground, supporting myself as I stood, "You really shouldn't have done that."

"And why-fucking-not?" Heather stood barely five feet away from me, she knows what I'm capable of, she just wants to see me get caught for it.

"You know ever since the school was vandalized a few months ago, they installed security cameras around the place." I took a small step closer, and her grin started to shrink.

"Yeah, cool isn't it? Each and every classroom is now set up with video cameras, rolling 24 hours a day." I smiled genuinely at her, then at the other three who were staring at me with a confused look.

"If you look behind you, into the top corner, you'll see where this rooms' camera is located." All four of them turned and glanced towards the lense of the camera.

"So you see, from this angle, it looks like you attacked me, when I didn't do anything to provoke you. And with leverage like that, I could get you Saturday detentions all Summer long."

Since attending highschool, you'll be suprised that the most handy thing I've learnt so far wasn't from any teacher. In fact it was from groups of girls like the four in front of me now. _Physiological Pain_, I've yet to master it, though I must say, I'm quite good.

"I can imagine it now, _it was so out of the blue, Mr. Cline, I was just sitting quietly when one of them attacked me, I tried to reason with her but she didn't care."_

Six months ago, I would've handled this situation by throwing Heather's chunky ass straight through the closest glass window, But now I know that doing that wouldn't help me achieve anything what-so-ever. Expect of course maybe a series of detentions._  
_

"And you know what that means, ladies--" I showed my teeth in a genuine grin, "Your parent's will be _pissed_." I curled my lips into a sarcastic frown. "And I'm sure they won't appreciate getting a call from the principle, will they Heather?" I stared harshly straight into her eyes.

She looked away from me. Queue the blackmail.

"Unless. . ." I began.

"What?" She questioned.

"Unless I get compensated for the horrible trauma you've caused." I clutched my stomach, wincing at the non-existent pain.

"Heather, my Dad'll take away my credit card _and_ my cell if I get in any sort of trouble." Nicole, the only brunette blurted out.

"Shut the hell up, Nicole." Heather commanded with a grimace. She sighed, "What do you want, Max?"

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"Wait up!" I heard Fang call out behind me, I slowed down and tucked the wad of $20 bills into my pocket.

"So how was detention?" He asked, walking in pace with me.

"Surprisingly good. Learning business skills." I smirked.

"I'm not gonna ask." He smiled, squinting his dark eyes at me as the sun glared on his face.

"And I'm not gonna tell. Hey, I thought you would've caught the bus home? What gives?" I took out a packet of gum from my bag, holding it open for Fang to take one.

He snatched three sticks of the minty gum and quickly crammed them in his mouth, "I thought I'd wait for you instead." He said, while chewing.

I threw a piece for myself into my mouth, "That's awfully unlike you." I knew better than to think this was some sort of romantic gesture, he was probably making sure I got home safely.

"Maybe I just felt like it." He clasped my hand, intertwining our fingers together, swinging our hands in time with our steps.

Maybe it was some lovey dovey romantic gesture. _Whatever, I'm happy.  
_

"Hey, maybe we could head up to Apache Lake tomorrow?" He suggested, squeezing my hand.

"You guys can if you want to, I know Angel's been dying to go swimming again." As much as sounded fun, I really needed sleep.

"Oh, that's cool, but I kind of meant . . . just us two."

_Gulp. _There goes my gum_._ I choked on a forced cough, "Oh--"

"I- it was a stupid idea, it doesn't matter." He slipped his hand out of mine.

Screw it, I can always sleep another time, ". . . I'd love to."

His widening grin beamed at me, "I figured we should leave before the others wake up in the morning, leave a note saying we'll be back before dark . . . or something."

I laughed at the way he sounded so rehearsed, "It's a date." I exclaimed a little too excitedly, taking back his hand in mine and holding it tightly.


	2. The Return

"_Max?_" Angel's voice whispered in my head, "_Are you awake, Max?_"

"_I am now_." I thought, slightly arching my back as I let out a yawn, I glanced at the digital alarm clock on the bedside table, it read 1:31AM. I was slightly agitated that my dream about Fang came to an abrupt end.

"_What is it Ange?_" I said frustratedly in my head.

"_Something's up. . . I can feel it, I think we should all split._"

"_Just wait a minute, Angel."  
_

I turned on my side to face Fang, the streetlight outside gleamed in through the window, outlining his twitching face. His strong jaw and cheek bones were evident, but his eyes remained veiled in the darkness of the small room.

He had snuck into my room just before I was about to do the same to him. Our not-so-romantic stroll through the town was cut short as my Mom saw us on the side of the road and insisted she give us lift.

My hand gently pushed back his jet black hair, "Fang." I said softly. His eyes flew open and focused on mine as he chocked for air, as if he'd been trapped underwater for a long period of time.

I shifted closer to him, my hand lightly pulled his head down onto my lap as he continued to gasp. "It was just a nightmare." I said in a hushed manner, trying to get him to calm down, "Everything's okay." I cooed.

"_Max?_" Angel's unsure voice mumbled in my head again.

"_It's okay Angel, Fang was just having a nightmare, everything's cool._"

"_That's not it. . . something is really happening_," Angel's voice was less than a whisper now.

I thought for a moment, Things have been pretty quiet during these last few months living with my Mom_._

"_Stay out of my head for a minute, okay?_"

"_But Ma-._"

"_Angel!_" I cut off her whiny complaint. I was not in the mood for an argument.

"_Fine. But stay safe_." The fear in her tiny voice was real. Something _was_ wrong, and I was determined to find out.

"Fang," I rubbed his shoulder. "Yeah," His tired voice replied.

I never asked him about his nightmares, it was only fair to him. No one his age should have to see the things we've seen, let alone re-live them night after night.

"I'll be back in a minute," I chose to let him rest instead of asking him to come for a midnight flight. I scribbled a note on the piece of paper that was meant to be for the flock when Fang and I headed up to the Lake.

He would never admit it because of the younger three, but living this _normal_ life exhausted him. Going to the local school each day made him anxious, keeping up his guard all the time, making sure each of us are safe 24/7. He would even skip class to keep tabs on Gazzy and Angel. The shadows under his eyes were more than noticeable, but no one said a word.

The icy wind stung against my face as I pumped my wings. The temperature was well below normal for an average Arizona night. The clouds seemed to huddle around the sky in a tight group, hiding the moon's light from the earth's surface.

_**Gain altitude, Max. Quickly.**_

_"Why do you chose moments like this to suddenly reappear? Can't you cut me a break and just tell me what shit is about to go down the day before?" _I hissed at the voice, I hadn't heard from it in what felt like an eternity.

A horrendous screech tore through the air, cutting the night's silence like a knife to butter. My hands tightly covered my ears as I tried to push my body upwards, pumping my wings as hard and fast as they could go.

The high pitch roar suddenly came to a hault. Though the noise still echoed in my ears.

_What was that?_

"Just something we've been working on."

I twisted myself around, I swallowed hard, "Who-," Was I managed to choke out.

"Don't you recognize your own brother?" He grinned mischievously. _Ari_.

I eyed his wings. "What happened?" I questioned, still maintaining a distance.

"Oh, do you like my new pair?" He gently flapped his almost majestic wings, stretching them out to their full span, a little over 16 feet across, I estimated. "Jeb kindly made some new. . . _features_ available to my friends and I."

_Shit_.

"Interesting improvements, hey?" They were completely different to the ones he had before. Darker feathers outlined each creamy colored wing, like a black shadow creeping over the tips. He moved closer to where I hovered.

"Don't come near me." I warned calmly, clenching my fists, preparing myself for whatever was about to happen.

He raised his hands, somewhat surrendering, "It's just me, you can let your guard down." He cocked his to the side.

"Why the hell are you here? What do you want?" I exclaimed.

He dropped one of his hands, keeping the other one in front of his chest. He lowered one finger at a time, "_4, 3, 2,_" I felt his words speak in my mind. As he dropped his pinky the unbearable screech returned, this time even louder.

"Fuck!" I cried out, covering my already raw ears.

I could feel the noise as if it was directly in the core of my brain, tearing away each precious cells, one by one. _My skull is going to burst, my skull is going to burst_, I repeated again and again. Hearing Heather's whiny voice right now would be angelic compared to this.

My hands covered my ears so tightly, I could feel my nails starting to break through my skin.

I glanced up at Ari, he remained where he was, smiling at my pain. _How the hell is this not effecting him?_

His words entered my head once again_, "You shoulda' seen this coming, Max."_

The unbearable noise came to a stop, I uncovered my aching ears to see blood, oozing through the gaps between my fingers, like water dripping from a leaky faucet, like someone had directly shot a arrow through one ear only to have it fly out through the other, ripping through everything in it's path.

I could feel my blood drip down my back, sinking into my shirt, the cold wind almost freezing it.

All I could now hear was my abnormally slow heart beat. Ba-boom . . . Ba-boom it went, slower and slower. _What was happening to me?_

Ari's sly voice whispered in my head,_ Nighty night. _

Like a sudden blackout, the lights in my head shut off. The darkness engulfed me.

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**Whatcha think? Feedback is love! Reviews really make my day! I'll update soon as possible!**** (:**_  
_**I've got it pretty well mapped out in my head, so stayed tuned!**_  
_


	3. Who?

My eyelids fluttered as soon as the sickening acid feeling flowed through my head. A small pained moan crept from my mouth as the seemingly bright florescent lights buzzed loudly just above my head; the bluish glow burned my sensitive pupils.

I was fazed for a moment, completely confused to why I had extreme pain traveling down my body in waves. Then I remembered last night. Or was it the night before?

I fearfully opened my eyes, sat up and studied my surroundings. The chill of the ugly clear wall I set my back against made my spine shiver, not only in temperature, but in fear.

The room was an exact replica, if not the one itself of a cell room at The School. _The School_, I said inwardly. My childhood nightmares have come back.

I sat on a thinly padded hospital like gurney, though the railings were missing. My legs hung off the side of the bed, small goose bumps patterned across each one.

The flimsy gown that stuck to my cold skin barely covered my back, it left three quarters of my legs exposed, I don't want to even think about who changed me into this.

All four walls were made of some type of thick clear glass; even my hardest kick couldn't even crack the dense casing. That's what it was, a case, like a cubed snow globe. Nothing to hide behind besides the uncomfortable bed. I was on display to everything and everyone who walked down these halls.

Like a caged lion, ready to tear to shreds anything that dare enter. Ripped unwillingly from its natural habitat and set up like an attraction, never to return from once it came. My eyes moistened at the thought, I shrugged it off and stood up.

_I've gotten out of here before, I can do it again. _But then again, I had the Flock to back me up._ Fang, _I sighed_. _I wonder if they've realized I'm not there.

Loud footsteps echoed down the endless halls, a series of shoes clicking against the sterile white linoleum.

As his ugly old mug came in to my view I stepped back in disgust. I grimaced at him, staring him down as he stood opposite me, nothing but the glass and his 'assistant' to protect his sorry ass.

His finger pressed a button on the panel outside, "Hello." His voice boomed through the tiny container of a room. His delighted face made me want to vomit, preferably _on_ his face. Then who'll be all buckets of sunshine.

He released the button to let me speak. I stood idly, arm crossed with my best 'Go-Fuck-Yourself' face on.

He paused and pressed a different button, letting us both speak at the same time. "How are you, today?" He questioned, like he actually cared. _Ha_.

I raised my hand, lowering all my fingers excluding the middle one. If my feelings towards him wasn't noticeable before, they're pretty obvious now.

His puzzled face stared at me for a moment before he nodded towards the artificial like model next to him. She eagerly smiled at him and strutted back down the hall.

"I need to do a few tests on you."

"I see-" I stepped closer, "Well that's gonna happen kids can fly- Oh, wait." I smacked my lips together, "That's already been done."

"It's only a matter of time before I escape from here again, Jeb."

"_Jeb?_" He questioned, squinting his eyes. "Where do you think you are, Maya?" His brow furrowed.

_Maya? The old man is losing it. _"I guess I'm not in Kansas anymore, am I?" I sarcastically grimaced. "I'm not sure what you call it, _The Workplace, __Home Sweet Home_, I don't really give a shit. All I know is I'm going be out of here in no time." I bragged.

He swiftly took his pen from his coat pocket and started to write in his reporter-like notepad. "What're you writing, eh? That I'm psychotic? Dangerous? _Homicidal_ even? I know for a fact that I'm Patricidal." He looked up from the small book confused. _That's right, bird kid knows the word for 'murdering your own father'. _

"Have you got something against your father, Maya?"

"Firstly," I genuinely laughed. "_Have I got something against my father?_" I mocked as I coughed for air as my sides began to sting in pain. "That's a good one. Secondly," I quickly wiped on a serious face, "Who the fuck is Maya?"

A hurt look dawned on his weathered face. His hand scrambled in his pocket before pulling out a voice recorder.

"Patient is disillusion, in complete denial of reality." He spoke into it, "Possibly concussed by some sort of self mutilation. All signs of progress have deteriorated. Split personalities are occurring." He glumly stopped the recorder and eyed me. He shook his head in some what pain.

"What happened?" He grimaced, "You were doing _so_ well!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" I yelled, "What's wrong with you, Jeb?"

"Who's _Jeb_?" He screamed, his sorrow eyes were laced with pure agony.

He tried to pull himself together, "It's me, Max. _Michael_, remember?" He put his hands on his chest, referring to himself.

I blinked a few times, looking blankly at him. This was their new game, their way to torture me, _brainwash_ me.

"Don't try to pull that shit with me." I crossed my head, stooping to this was beyond pathetic.

"Maya!" He yelped, abruptly moving forward and pressing his hands against the glass. "Please." He begged, "Please come back."

My jaw tightened, "I'm not fucking Maya, I'm MAX. M-A-X, I'm the girl you stole her childhood from. You altered me. Changed who I was! You changed me into _this_!" I rolled my shoulders backwards, letting my wings extend.

Again, he crossed his head before bowing it. He covered his face with his hand, freely weeping as he let his notebook and voice recorder fall to his feet.

I looked to my side, gobsmacked. Not even a feather insight, let alone a wing. This wasn't possible. I reached my hand to my shoulder blades. _Nothing_. I rubbed the skin where they should be, not even a single mark or scar to feel.

I jumped forward, slamming my fists against the impossibly tough barrier. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?" I screamed as loud as I could.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?" I demanded to know, as the salty liquid began to blur my vision.

He looked up at me as I glared down at him, "Nothing." He mouthed, his puffy, red face was nothing like Jeb. But it _was_ him. It _is_ him!

_This is some horrible nightmare, wake up Max. WAKE UP, MAX! _

I looked down at my bony wrists, the ugly formation of scars came to my attention. In all different directions they over lapped each other. Some were pink and purple; still raw and tender. Others were light grey; their outlines only just visible.

I threw myself roughly against the glassy wall, attempting to wake myself up. Again and again my I threw myself at full force_. _Tears streamed down my cheeks now, "Why are you doing this?" I cried.

Exhausted, I turned my back against the wall and slowly slid down the icy casing. "Fang?" I whimpered_, _hoping he might hear me and wake me up.

The tears bedded themselves in the gown as they rolled down my neck. This wasn't a nightmare, I realized. This was reality kicking my ass.

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**[Inform me of spelling errors please! :D]  
Woah, you didn't expect that, did you? I didn't think so.  
Reviews will make me write quicker, I'm seriously not  
even joking. If you review, it makes me feel like you're  
actually liking this. So please, I beg you, review? It'll  
seriously brighten my day. And thanks to the peeps who  
reviewed already! -hugs- ^.^**


	4. Hold On

THIS STORY IS ON HOLD UNTIL I CAN GET SOME MORE REVIEWS. I DIDN'T GET ANY ON THE LAST CHAPTER, WHICH WAS VERY DISAPPOINTING.  
Peace out. xo


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